Audio Redman
Put It Down

Redman: Brolin! What's the deal man?! Brolin: Redman, how you doing? What's up with the new album? I'm looking at this now like—even when I went into doing this album, right, it's like, okay, like what I'm going to do? Like, am I going to consistently talk about the s*** I was doing on Muddy Waters? No, because you know what? The motherf***ers who was listening to me on Muddy Waters, they ass should be grown by now. Right, right. You know what I mean. And it's not like I'm trying to preach off a message on this album because I'm not, because f*** a message. You should know what life is about by now because, I mean, if you don't I'm not going to be the motherf***er to tell you.

Of course I'm still talking about bitches and marijuana. I just think that from the last album until now I've been doing a lot of research on building myself as a studio bunny. Like, I've always been a studio bunny since '92 because I basically did my whole album myself since '92, just got the beats from Erick. I put everything together. I put my first album together myself and I did not know what the f*** I was doing. The only thing I knew is I was a fan of N.W.A, Slick Rick, KRS-One and Ice Cube and that's what I set off of and I did my album.

Now I even took it to another level of learning ProTools. I'm engineering my sessions. I learned how to work everything in my studio from the Motif to the MP3000 to the ProTools 7 Series. I know how to work everything and I think that adjustment from me learning all this time until now, yeah, it's a big deal, man. It's a big deal. So you're pretty much self sufficient now. Got to. Right on, man. And you've got two albums dropping this year, right? Is that the deal? Well you know what? I'm going to try. Okay. I want to do it. I want to do it because I got that passion in me but…You know what, f*** it, I'm going to try to do it. And now I know you also got the Gilla House, your crew, some artists that you've been mentoring. What's the deal with those guys? I assume they're going to be featured on the new record? Oh, you better believe it. See, now let me tell you something. Now, if I just had to do a regular Redman album I would have been f***ing finished. Right, right. You know what I'm saying. That's the title of it is Red Gone Wild. It's not the same as saying, "Oh Redman's wil'ing." It's the sense of saying like, "Okay, I'm wil'ing but my business is a little more tighter now and, you know, I got things to introduce on my album besides me." Like, I got my artist Icadon from Brooklyn; Ready Roc from Brick City; Runt Dog from Brick City; Melanie from Michigan; and E-3 from Canada; and my cousin Marky, he's from Brick City. I mean, we all a team and it's like introducing them to the game and another thing about Red Gone Wild, like Erick Sermon and Rockwilder producing, that produced most of the album rarely, this time I went out and got different producers besides them. I just wanted to test the waters. Sure. You know, I'm getting grown, you know what I mean. I mean, like I said, I'm—we're all grown now. My fans who grew with me should be grown now. So, I mean, it's basically, like, I want to give them a different story, still show them that I still have that Redman feel, but we are grown. And the whole mentioning of it Red Gone Wild is just breaking the code, letting you know whatever you've been doing all your f***ing life, make a change. But make it a good change and I think that's what I want to get across to my fans when I drop this album, too, is not of a more like, "Oh, yeah, well this is supposed to be the super album." No, it's not supposed to be a super album because I don't want it to be the super album. I want to leave room. I want to have room. I want to let you all know that this is an introduction up to a movement of Gilla House niggas.

Gilla House, what do Gilla stand for? Over the top, not allowing nothing less than what you supposed to get. If you have something, if you're doing art and you have pictures in there and you're like, "Yeah, I like this one, I like this one, but I don't like this one because I ain't finished working it. And I like this one but this one I don't like because…" Why have those two mother f***ers in there? Get those the f*** out of there.

Gilla is taking the time, taking the patience to make every f***ing thing you do off the chain. And that's what I want to come across and let people know that. This is a movement. I don't want to look at this as just, the Redman, I ain't been out in a long time, what can you expect. No, this is just a new movement. "Oh, this is some new s*** going on." Okay, so you know what, I want to let you all know I want to leave room for y'all to listen for me for more s***. I want y'all to tune in and be interested for more Gilla House s***. This is what this album is about. Excellent. And I really want to stress that. Like, I don't want it to be, like, the big album or, "This is the one." No, this is just an introduction to a movement. That's what's up. I'm looking forward to hearing that. Yeah. So now, you've put out a lot of classic material. And over the past 15 years you've been making hits. All of your records have gone either gold or platinum. Nowadays, there industry has changed. Yes. Preach! Not just Hip-Hop, but across the board people just aren't buying records like that anymore. And as you know, I mean, rap music in particular has taken a hit sales-wise, you know what I'm saying. As somebody like yourself that has all these plaques and has a long track record of big-selling records and big hits does that worry you or are you more concerned about the fans' reaction than the sales? You know what, see, that just goes to show what kind of homework you got to have been doing when you first come out as a artist, or even when I came out. See, my s*** has never, and you can ask my manager to this day, I have never made records for the radio or for sales. All my money came from shows. Still to this day all my money comes from shows. As long as I got that mother f***ing energy, album, to get me to do these shows, it's cool. I'm not really worrying about if I'm going to go platinum. Everybody is following your first week and, I mean, it's cool. Follow your first week, but you know what, mother f***ers are independent now. So you're first week don't mean s*** no more. That's true. Exactly. If your first week is 50,000 on an independent, nigga, you're great. What are you talking about, "dog, he only did 50." If he's independent, he's f***ing moving. Yeah, that's big. Exactly. Now, if you're signed to a label, of course they're going to look at you to do 300 and whatever. Look, I'm going to tell you all mother f***ers now, don't look for me to do no 300, don't look for me to do no 200. I don't give a f*** about that. I'll be happy with 100. Right, right. I'm going to be happy with 75,000. I don't give a f*** because, you know what, it's just leaving me room to get my s*** to popping. Yeah, okay, these motherf***ers don't even know my album out, well that mean I'm going to act a fool. I'm going to act a fool these next two months. I'm going to run in, shake it on MTV, wherever they have a shoot at and I'm going to f***ing wild the f*** out. And they going to know Redman's album out and they're going to say, "You know what, he did his own promotion." I ain't scared. See, you can't be scared to work. All this s*** has just went back to what it used to be. All this s*** went back to what it used to be in '94 and '93, going around to these college radio stations, getting your ass back up, taking your ass back to the stations, shaking hands, meeting the people like you should be. But I already been there and I'm still doing that. So it's no problem. And are you—I mean, there's definitely been some concern from your fellow artists on Def Jam about how the label is being run and what not. Is everything gravy with them? Is that an issue at all for you or what? Hey, listen, man, like I said, I'm self-sufficient. I'm hands on with everything. And besides, like I said, these last five years when I've been gone, you've got to understand, man, the game done changed. The game done changed dramatically and besides doing movies and venturing out the game to try to earn other money to see if I could earn other s*** besides the rap game, I've been also making connects, hands-on connects.

Everybody know nobody likes a third God damn party, give me a break. Nobody likes the middleman. Nobody likes to say—like even with you, like, let me ask you another f***ing question and then this will solve it all right here. If I was to come, like, say if you had a, like—you getting me the interview right now. Say for instance you see me out on the street and without Def Jam putting it through.

Now say for instance you and me just talking and bumped into you and you said, oh, you do interviews and I'll be like, "Yo, well listen, man, I'm coming out with an album and s***, man. You need to just take my number, man, and give me the interview, man, or something so I can get myself popping." Wouldn't you respect that more from an artist than—even though that's the liberal way to getting the artist is through the label, but wouldn't you respect that more from an artist hands on? Absolutely. Exactly. Just you calling me up like that, I was pleasantly surprised because usually it's like a bunch of label people and manager people and random messages… Exactly. Bouncing each other back and rescheduling everything and it's a total pain in the ass. So I think it's better to just go direct like that. Well that's why I called you. No doubt. That's why I just go around when I go out I'm doing s*** way different. I'm hands on with everything, f*** that. And you know what, the people I meet, even like you, like by you talking like you and in every conversation and interview I had everything's been crystal clear and crystal, like, "Yo, this nigga here been good and everybody's so satisfied with each interview." It's just like, "Oh, yeah, I want to hear this from an artist. I need to hear this." So then I ain't got to accept that, that's bulls*** when artists say they can do it if they want to do it. And I want to do it and I just want to prove to myself that this can be done by—your promotion could be done by shaking hands on and I want to see if can be really done. Absolutely. And that's what I'm after. So that's why I'm starting off the right way with everybody, the right way. Nice. Now I know, obviously, in addition to the music, you've done TV stuff, you've done movie stuff. I interviewed Meth last year and asked him about what's the status of "How High 2." I've heard that there might be some scripts being checked out. Any updates with that? Well me, Meth and Dustin need to get our black asses up. This is the whole big deal, me, Meth and Dustin that wrote the first one, that put the ideas together, need to get our black lazy asses up and have another meeting and come do this. That's what it is. No more bulls***. Ain't nobody going to do it for us. Look, if we came up with the mother f***ing script, I'm sure that we could get a mother f***ing movie—a movie deal whatever we come up because just off the success of the first one. Definitely. So that's what it's really dependent on. And you know what, I was waiting to get done with my album. I turned my album in last week. I know I'm cutting it close because my album coming out the 27th, but that just saves time for the bootleggers to get it. [laughs] Yeah, exactly. So as soon as I turned in my album I promised myself I'm going to do everything I need to after. After I get these artists rolling, I'm doing this in the next two weeks, after that I'm writing this "How High" s***. That's it. Cool, excellent. And now are you going to be doing a big tour once the album drops or what's the deal? I'm starting a tour, not a big tour, but like a mini little tour. First of all, I just got off the Rock The Bells. I saw the show in San Fran, it was off the hook. Yeah, it was absolutely. Big up to everybody that was on the Rock the Bells and the whole Guerilla Union putting it together. It was a great day seeing all the people out there, seeing what they're missing, seeing how their reaction now is—once you're out of work getting these fans back to feeling what hip-hop was and I know I need to get back there and I can't wait. So now I'm going on a little promotional tour in two weeks. I'm going to be going state to state to radios, in your town. If you hear me in your town, please come out because I'm going to be wild and I ain't got shows to do. So anywhere you see me at I won't be doing shows, but I'm going to be at the radio station letting everybody know I'm coming, the right way, so, I say for like four weeks. Right on. Cool, so I just got a couple more questions and I'll let you go, man. Yes, sir. Now this is something that I ask everybody basically. You've been doing this for a long time. You've been very successful over a long period. You've branched out into other stuff. But at the same time you haven't—it's not like you're changing your style up to try to fit in with these new trends and whatnot. Nice, nice. You stayed true to the course. And that's why—another reason I ain't coming out with them 2001 and 2000 now. I mean, it was just, like, yo, within 2001 and 2005 usually you'd have to get down or lay down. Yeah, totally. Because I wasn't ready to sacrifice my integrity, my mother f***ing Whut: Thee Album, all the way to now, just to sacrifice my style to fit in. No way. Yeah, that's the thing. There's a lot of artists that are veteran artists that be trying to kind of follow whatever's hot today and whatnot and it usually backfires. Hell yeah. You've kept it true the whole time. Nowadays there are so many kids out there that want to be rappers, they want to be producers, they want to get the label jump off and have their own movement and instead of making demos everybody's got MySpace or whatever. What advice would you give to all those kids that look up to somebody like you and are like, "That's what I want to do, that's who I want to be like?" You know what, I will tell all the new artists, all the new fans that's trying to do it, MySpace is a wonderful network to get your point across. I think that was a big help to anybody that's doing a self-business site trying to get their point across as an artist or person. The second thing I would do, artists, is this. From 2000 to now, just get it out your mind, for new artists. See I'm a person that does this. I know everybody's following the trends and they're cool because there's supposed to be that percentage that follows the trends to keep it even. That's the balance of the world. But the first couple of mother f***ers that retract and start becoming superheroes again, and what I mean by superheroes is what I mean by names you can remember for the longest like Salt 'n' Peppa, Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, Rakim, LL Cool J. Mm-hmm, the legends. The legends. See those are superhero names. Even when it came to the next generation up, like then when it came to '92 and '94 it was like with Wu-Tang, Redman, Busta Rhymes, Keith Murray. Those are big—those are superhero names. You understand what I'm saying? Absolutely. Like Redman. Those a re big superhero names right now. See now you got names like—everybody name is like what's going on now, like, every name is "Lil", and it's cool because that's the trend and I love it because if I was young I probably would have been like, "Yo, all right, well my name is Lil' this, Young this, whatever," it don't matter. And I love it because it's providing jobs.

But the first new artist that goes back to listening to N.W.A., Niggaz 4 Life or KRS' Boom Bap album or EPMD's first album or Rakim's album and find out what it is to make an album, to have those album cuts on there that represent you, not the one that's on that radio 20,000 times, those album cuts that…There was a time where mother f***ers appreciated the album cuts instead of the radio cuts. No, we don't want to hear the radio cuts. But you ain't hearing that s***, though. The first person to take it back to that kind of thinking, and it can be done, with making the album that way is going to win. The world is going to be like, "Oh, my God. Did you hear this old school sounding s***, but it's so new!" And it's hard to reach but I don't believe in anything that can't be done. Everything can be done.
Yes, absolutely, man. And I'm telling the fans that, and I'm telling young artists it is very important you all listen to that, man. It is very important and the only way you all going to do that is take it back and listen to the whole program of the old hip-hop, admit that everybody had their own sound. And in order for you to have your own sound, you and your crew have to be in your own studio, whether it's listening to the radio everyday or putting in a CD and you're all around each other, y'all have to find a producer, a producer who is only going to supply you. Let me tell you something, the last mother f***ers that did it, that's new, the last mother f***ers that did it like that was Cash Money. Yeah. And that's why I love it. I love it. They came out like an N.W.A. Yeah, like a brand new sound too. A brand new sound, they had their own producer that didn't produce for nobody else but them and they killed it and that's why they f***ing won and that's why some of them are still eating heavy till this day. That's the meaning of taking it back. It just had new sound. Totally. Well listen, man, I appreciate you taking the time to talk to us. You got any last words for the fans out there? Yeah, hell yeah, for the fans, I'm opening up a sneaker store for all kind of actions, especially skateboarders, in Staten Island. I know everybody thought I was opening a shoe store. It got misconstrued that I was opening a woman's store. No, it's not a woman's shoe store. That's why I'm doing interviews now to get it straight. It's a footwear store for any kind of action sport. It's a boutique, you know what I mean.

And then in the midst of that opening, I'm going to be designing and working on the shoes. You got to understand designing a woman's shoe takes time and I want to really take my time and do something hot for the ladies. So I'm not going to really open up nothing until I get my line of shoes and the right kind of shoes I want to have in there yet. But it's in the process. So I want to let all the ladies know I'm still on it so don't be down, but the action footwear store is what was in first, in play, and it's already in play, and if you want to come down, all skateboarders willing to have any hot material there that's original.

All our s*** is going to be basically original, not s*** you going to find a regular Dr. J's or whatever. We're like a boutique. So we when get it together, me and my man, Tariq from Staten Island, we ain't got the name of it yet, but you all will hear about it on the grand opening and as far as that, Gilla House is coming. Everybody is coming out, my crew, and me and Meth's "How High 2" is coming. Redman is in circulation, for anybody, all my fans out there that stuck with me all these years, I love you all and I'm there. Excellent, man. Right on. Well it's great talking to you, Redman. I appreciate it. Thanks a lot, man. And I will look for you down in Austin. Yes, sir, you'll smell me smoking. That sounds good, man. Yo, take it easy. All right.